Improvement in railroad-switches



M. BALL. RAILROAD SWITCH.

Patented July 11 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILTON BALL, OFOANTON, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-SWITCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,640, dated July 11, 1865.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MILTON BALL, of Canton, Stark county, State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Safety-Switch; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, rei'erence being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section oi a railroadswitch and switch-rails having my invention applied. Fig. 2 is a top view of Fig. 1. Fig.1 3 shows a contriva-nee for operating switchrails. 7

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

Theobject of my invention is to guard against accidents on railroads in consequence of carelessness on the partof switch-operators by so constructing a switch that in the act of opening it the operator will be confined t0 the spot, and cannot leave the switch without closing it again, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand inyinvention, I will describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings 1 have represented my invention applied to the simplest form of switch, and to that form which is most generally in use on railroads.

The lever A is pivoted at b to a frame,() andthis lever extends'upward suitable distance, and has a signal, A, applied to its upper end, by which the engineer of an approaching train canascertainthe position of the switchrails. The sliding rod to is suitably pivoted to the lower end of the lever A, and carried otf to and connected to .the switch-rails c c, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that by vibrating the lever A the rails c 0 may be moved from one track to another as circumstances require. The lever A extends up through a staple, d, which keeps it in place against the vertical side of the frame 0, and on top of this frame is a notched plate, 9, which, when properly adjusted, will lock the lever A in the vertical position; shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, in which position the switch-rails are closed with the main track; but when the lever A is moved to the position indicated in said figures by red lines the switch-rails will beopen, or in a line with a branch track or turn-out.- When itis desired to move the lever A from its vertical position the, locking-plate g is loosened and set back so as to free said lever from its notch.

Various contrivances. maybe adopted for locking lever A in its vertical position; or, if desirable, such eontrivances may be dispensed with. I prefer, however, to employ some means for preventing accidental displacement of the switch.

Surrounding the mechanism for actuating the switch-rails is an inclosure, B, which is entered through a door, D. (Shown open in Figs. 1 and 2.) This door is connected by means of a rod, is, or inany other suitable'inanner, with the lever A, and i't-stands open, when the lever A is in a vertical position and the switch is closed; but when the switchis openi.e., outof line with the main track-as indicated in red, Fig. 2, the door I) will be closed.

Several entrances may be made in the inclosure B, provided allthe doors thereof are connected, substantially as above described, to the switch-lever A. By thus surrounding the signal rod or lever A of a railroad-switch with an inclosure having one or more entrances which stand open while the switch is closed, but which are closedthe moment the switch is open, the operator will be confined within the limits of said inclosure until he adjusts the switch-rails to the proper position.

The object of the locking-plate g is to prevent the operator from closing the door 1) in leaving the inclosure, or to prevent this door from being closed from any other cause when it is intended that it should remain open.

By my invention it will be seen that the attendant of a switch cannotleave it when it is not in the proper position, unless he does it intentionally by closing the door D upon leaving the inclosure.

I In the above description I have described a mode of opening the switch in one direction only; but it is obvious that the same principle may be adopted for opening the switch in both directions, or so as to bring the switch-rails in a line with two tracks branching off from the main track.

If desirable, two doors may be connected together in such manner that when the switchlever is moved on one side one door or' portion of a door will close the entrance, and when .it is moved on the opposite side the other door 2. Surrounding a railroadswi-tch with an inclosure having one or more entrances which stand open'while the switch is closed, but which are closedin the act of opening the switch, substantially as described.

MILTON BALL.

Witnesses:

GEO, E. BALDWIN, R. V. CAMPBELL. 

